The Regressor Can Make Them All

Chapter 204

The entire hotel swayed violently, looking as if it would topple at any moment; the explosion underground had collapsed the ground supporting the building.

Then, just as people's attention was beginning to converge on the hotel, a loud explosion erupted from somewhere else.

Boom!

Following closely behind, flames and deafening roars began bursting from all over the city.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The explosions erupted indiscriminately—tearing through high-rise buildings, small five-story structures, bridges over the river, cars on the roads, and even crowded sidewalks in bustling districts. It was the result of the puppets, who had blended seamlessly into the city over the past few days, simultaneously detonating the bombs implanted in their temporary bodies.

“It’s a terrorist attack!”

“It’s an air raid from the Demon Force! RUN!!!”

“Citizens! Please remain calm and evacuate in an orderly fashion!”

With explosions occurring everywhere, the streets of Frankfurt turned into a chaotic mess in an instant. However, the entrances of underground shelters quickly opened up throughout the city, giving a place for the nearby heroes who quickly dispersed to evacuate the citizens.

Meanwhile, the cause of the situation, Nine, was observing calmly.

“As expected, it wasn’t enough.”

The hotel where Se-Hoon was staying, which had been swaying as if it might collapse at any moment, had stabilized with a slight tilt. It was thanks to the undead assigned to guard Se-Hoon using their bodies to temporarily form a brace and secure the ground.

Judging by the lack of chaos, the other areas must also be countering the explosions in a similar manner.

If his goal had been to attack the headquarters of the UD Group, it was a pathetic attempt that only heightened vigilance without causing proper damage. However, since that wasn’t Nine’s goal, he was calm. He had already somewhat anticipated such an outcome from the start of the planning.

Boom! Boom!

The heroes and undead raced against the clock, swiftly moving to identify and root out the puppets continuing to switch into the new bodies and then initiating more suicide bombings.

At the scene, Nine stepped back from the window and drew a sword from his waist.

Ssing-

The sword had a sinister blade with a green tint, thin and faintly wrapped in wind, each wisp as sharp as a knife—the Legendary weapon, Ewiniar.

Pointing the tip of the sword forward, Nine drew his right hand back as if he were pulling a bowstring. He then extended his left hand forward, using it to aim through the window, and focused his mana on his right eye.

Humm!

As the tattoo around his right eye glowed red, his right pupil turned green before beginning to writhe like a separate creature. But that only lasted a moment, and once it calmed, Nine stared at the top floor of the hotel, where Se-Hoon’s room was located.

Found you.

Se-Hoon was currently looking at the scene outside through a broken window. He seemed to have decided to wait for the security to arrive rather than move around hastily. And given his limited information at hand, it was a wise decision.

Loading.

However, he had failed to account for snipers.

Compressing the air around it, Ewiniar's blade formed a bullet with a green glow at its tip. Lining it up, Nine activated the A-rank Box embedded in his chest.

Bang!

The compressed wind shot through the small portal in front of him, traversing dozens of kilometers in an instant, and appeared three hundred meters in the air, aligned with the top floor of the hotel. Maintaining its initial momentum, it struck Se-Hoon, standing by the window.

CRASH!

Exploding, the wind bullet completely demolished the suite on the top floor of the hotel. Even if Se-Hoon managed to block the initial bullet, it was nearly impossible to fend off the release of the storm of hundreds of thousands of cutting winds from the single bullet.

That should do it.

It would be ideal if he could confirm Se-Hoon’s death, but he knew that Wurgen would likely intervene if things escalated further. So, Nine immediately began preparing to retreat by infusing mana into the Box for spatial teleportation. However, he heard a cold voice echoing through the ruins before he could escape.

“Where do you think you're going?”

“?!”

Shocked by the voice, Nine felt like he had run into a wall and his spatial teleportation subsequently failed. The ruins then darkened, and countless eyes emerged from the walls. Nine’s face went pale with shock, realizing it was Wurgen’s Eyes of the Underworld.

How...?

Not only had he adjusted his bullet's firing trajectory, but he had also set up magic arrays to conceal his magic. Yet his location had still been detected so quickly.

However, because of that, he could come to an answer quickly.

Had he been observing me from the beginning?

The only possible explanation was that Wurgen had been aware of his presence all along—an answer that left Nine in disbelief.

Why would Wurgen bother to monitor an area so much larger than usual just for Se-Hoon's safety? According to his understanding of Wurgen's nature and values, it just didn’t make any sense; it was like a train was leaving its rails to run on the sea.

“You seem confused.”

Wurgen's eyes curled into a crescent, mocking Nine's reaction.

“That's what happens when ignorant fools pretend to know more than they actually do.”

The surrounding darkness surged, and Wurgen's elite undead minions, the Einherjars, began to reveal themselves. Surrounded by Einherjars, each comparable to an S-rank hero, Nine immediately determined it was an unwinnable fight.

Pluck!

So he resolutely tore out his right eye and stabbed the Box in his chest with Ewiniar.

Boom!

The shockwave made the entire space tremble, and the scene before Nine’s eyes changed instantly. Confirming that his consciousness had transferred to a spare body hidden in the city, he quickly scanned his surroundings.

There it is.

His eyeball and Ewiniar were lying on the ground nearby.

Instead of fighting Wurgen, Nine used the Box as a consumable to forcibly transfer the crucial items out. He had sacrificed the A-rank Box, but it was worth it if he could escape.

However, that was if he could escape.

A Perfect One won't let me escape that easily.

If Wurgen had truly been aware of him from the start, he would have anticipated an escape tactic. And that meant simply running back to his hideout could endanger his master, Puppeteer.

With that option cut off, he re-examined his best course of action.

Kill Lee Se-Hoon.

If Wurgen had known of his presence all along, it was guaranteed that the target, Se-Hoon, was unscathed. And since Se-Hoon was influential enough to even change the usually dismissive Wurgen, a Perfect One who posed the greatest threat to the Demon Force.... Nine quickly grabbed the items on the ground and headed outside.

Boom!

Smashing through the supermarket warehouse's wall, Nine ran toward the distant hotel while activating the Demon Eye of Storms in his right eye socket.

Woong-

Analyzing the minute movements of the wind, the Demon Eye of Storms pinpointed the exact locations of heroes, civilians, and undead throughout the city. Among them, there was a response coming from the severely damaged top floor of the hotel. Assuming that it was Se-Hoon, Nine increased his speed and swung his Ewiniar.

Slash!

Unlike the previous sniping, where he was trying to remain hidden, he focused on speed and power. And Ewiniar, which sucked in the surrounding air, had created a massive storm blade full of it that tore apart the hotel’s outer wall like the claw of a giant beast.

Rumble!

Half of the top floor was completely destroyed, resulting in the stabilized hotel shaking once more due to the tremendous force. Yet, the faint sign of movement inside didn't disappear; observing the signal closer, it felt like it was coming from something that was neither the dead nor the alive.

Is Wurgen protecting him with necromancy?

If so, killing Se-Hoon might be impossible, but Nine had no other choice. He quickly reached the hotel's bottom and began climbing the ruined exterior.

When he finally reached the shattered top floor, he found Se-Hoon there, aiming his left index finger forward with a smile on his face.

“You made it.”

Woosh!

A giant spear shot from the darkness behind Se-Hoon toward Nine, who despite being startled, quickly swung Ewiniar. He had anticipated some sort of counterattack, but not from Se-Hoon himself.

“?!”

Mid-swing, Ewiniar, which should have been powerful enough to slice through the spear instantly, slowed down halfway with its wind clinging to the blade.

This is...!

The underworld’s darkness, which only a high-ranking necromancer could control, was holding the Ewiniar in place and pushing Nine away.

Boom!

Unable to counter, Nine crashed down from the top floor of the hotel, smashing into the ground below with a heavy thud.

“Ugh...!”

Lying in the middle of the road, Nine quickly swung Ewiniar at the spear that shot down after him and was trying to entangle him again.

Slash!

Tapping into the Box embedded in his backup body, he executed a slash that obliterated the spear. He then glanced up at the top floor with a distorted expression.

If only the transfer had been smoother...

While the specs of his backup weren't significantly different from the original, the hasty initiated transfer process had thrown off the synchronization, making his power output unstable. Like this, he wouldn’t be able to settle the matter before Wurgen's arrival.

Regardless, Nine was about to muster the rest of his strength when he heard a shout.

“Hey! Can you hear me?!”

Looking up, Nine saw Se-Hoon crouched by the broken window.

“Looks like you're not fully warmed up yet. Let me help you with that! Come at me again once you’re ready, okay?”

“...What?”

Nine looked up in bewilderment. His enemy was giving him time to warm up and telling him to fight with all of his strength? The situation was beyond strange.

Still, it gave Nine a chance to reassess his plan... or at least he thought.

“No? Here I come, then!”

Without waiting, Se-Hoon pointed his left index finger, engraved with dense inscriptions, toward the ground and activated the power of Boundaries.

Projected onto the remaining outer wall of the hotel, the darkness of the underworld, boiling like lava, bubbled and began releasing giant spears that rained down like arrows.

“?!”

At the sudden onslaught of spears, Nine sprang into action, cutting through the falling spears with Ewiniar. Now that he knew they were made of the underworld's darkness, dealing with them wasn't difficult. However, the problem of their sheer number still remained.

Krrr!

As time passed, the spears increased in number and speed, as well as began adjusting their size to counter Nine's responses. The overwhelming barrage, feeling as if he were facing dozens of A-rank heroes at once, made Nine's expression falter.

Just how much mana does he have to maintain such an attack...!

To unleash such an assault without breaking a sweat, Se-Hoon had to be at least S-rank. But refusing to believe it, Nine suspected that Wurgen was supporting him and observed Se-Hoon, who was looking at the spears he was shooting.

It’s actually coming out endlessly.

The truth was that Se-Hoon was utilizing the near-infinite darkness mana in the underworld, channeling it into the surface with the power of Boundaries. Not only was the efficiency incredible, but the power was on a different level compared to when he used the first Eternal Nocturne’s Phalanax.

And it didn’t take long for him to figure out why.

It's about understanding the power.

Just having the ability to use the power of Boundaries didn't equate to wielding it like a Perfect One. The weapon's infusion of darkness mana merely served as fuel to activate it; true mastery necessitated a fundamental comprehension of its functionality.

The difference between fully using the power and borrowing it... so this is what he meant.

Recalling Wurgen's advice during the special exam, Se-Hoon looked at the Eternal Nocturne’s Phalanx fused into his left index finger.

The newly created bone lacked any inherent abilities. At first, he thought it was due to a mistake on his part, but now he understood why.

The skills in the original Eternal Nocturne’s Phalanx were incomplete from the start.

Those skills had been broken down so that even those unfamiliar with the power of Boundaries could use them. That was why Se-Hoon wasn’t able to draw out its full strength, while Wurgen was still able to overpower the Dream Demon avatar alone.

I may not be on par with him yet... but I should be able to imitate to some extent!

His eyes gleaming, Se-Hoon swiftly refined the darkness projected on the hotel's exterior.

Woong!

In the darkness, Se-Hoon drew lines that formed an incomprehensible, eerie pattern attached to the forming spearheads. A blink of an eye later, Se-Hoon had managed to inscribe complex magic arrays onto all of the spears.

And those spears, now charged with unprecedented power, began spiraling forcefully.

Boom!

As soon as they hit the ground, spikes erupted in all directions.

“Agh!”

Boom!

The attack sent Nine crashing into a nearby cafe.

Not giving Nine a moment, Se-Hoon quickly altered the patterns on the spears again, changing their effects.

Boom!

Another volley of spears shattered the cafe, scattering its fragments like shrapnel. Unable to deflect them all, Nine stumbled from the pieces invading his body.

This is dangerous...!

Earlier, only the sheer number of spears bothered him. But now, the attacks' unpredictability also made them difficult to counter.

It was shocking how much Se-Hoon had grown in such a short time. Quickly making a decision, Nine sprinted toward a nearby building, deciding to evade over deflect.

Boom!

Using short-range spatial teleportation to evade detection, Nine bulldozed through obstacles in his escape. However, Se-Hoon had Eyes of Clairvoyance.

So he's not giving up without a fight, Se-Hoon thought, frowning.

While Se-Hoon grew accustomed to wielding the power of Boundaries, Nine was also quickly synchronizing the organs of his backup body. Thanks to that, his movements gradually became faster, and Ewiniar's power also increased.

The frequency of Nine's short-range spatial teleportation grew shorter and shorter until suddenly, he appeared right in front of Se-Hoon.

He intentionally led Se-Hoon into believing he could only use short-range teleportation, so he took the opportunity to slash his neck with Ewiniar.

Clang!

Astounded, Nine stared at the underworld's darkness which had sprouted out of the ground to narrowly block the slash.

Did he predict this too?

Se-Hoon had countered his surprise attack so smoothly that it seemed like Se-Hoon had known he would teleport there all along.

However, despite being dumbfounded, Nine didn't stop moving.

Whoosh!

Kicking off the air, Nine closed the distance again, drawing out all of his mana for an all-out assault. He thought that if he allowed the distance to widen, finding another opening would be difficult, and Wurgen might intervene.

I'll get him this time!

Nine rushed forward, determined to decapitate Se-Hoon no matter what.

Sensing his resolve, Se-Hoon drew forth the darkness of the underworld, creating a portal. He was preparing to summon an undead to buy time.

At the sight, Wurgen, who had been watching from his office, clicked his tongue.

Tsk... I don’t know if that’s a good move.

The only undead Se-Hoon could summon right now was the Beast Spider he used in morning training. And although it wasn’t weak, it wouldn’t be able to stand up to a Single Number’s assault.

Deciding it was no longer worth watching, Wurgen turned to Benjamin to send him to wrap things up. However, Benjamin was suddenly engulfed in darkness.

“...?”

Staring at where his secretary was swallowed by the darkness, Wurgen abruptly realized something and turned back to the battlefield.

“What...!”

“How am I...!”

Shocking everyone, Se-Hoon had unexpectedly summoned Benjamin before him.

“Go, Benjamin!”

Having successfully taken control of Wurgen's undead, Se-Hoon smugly gave his order.